Limours / St-Arnoult

Watch out! This stage is a provisional route, not signposted. This stage follows quiet little roads leading you into the clean air of the Chevreuse Valley Natural Park. As you enter the Yvelines county, there are some challenging slopes, but then you get to the nice cycle tracks through Rambouillet Forest that rewards all your previous efforts. We advise to download roadbooks and GPS tracks in order to guide you.

The Chevreuse Valley

The Vallée de Chevreuse is in fact the valley of the Yvette River, a small tributary of the Orge. It remains a great green lung just 30km from Paris, although dreamers like Alphonse Allais wished for new towns in its countryside, as 'the air is so pure here'. Now the valley is reputed for its hiking and draws tourists thanks to its fine heritage, such as the Château de Breteuil and the Abbey of Port-Royal. Since the 1950s, the valley has also become home to a major European science park.

Rambouillet Forest

Rambouillet Forest, with its great oak woods, its lakes, its sandy zones and its secretive little valleys, attracts over 10 million visitors a year. The forest is one of the largest in the whole Ile-de-France region encircling Paris. Paths head out in star shapes, designed to facilitate the royal hunts once held here; hunting to hound still takes place. Deer, the forest's emblematic animal, plus other woodland creatures, can be observed at the Espace Rambouillet animal park.

La Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon

Visit the Moulin de Villeneuve, a mill full of history. It was once the home of famed 20th-century surrealist poet Louis Aragon and his writer wife, Elsa Triolet. The atmosphere in the six-hectare grounds was a source of inspiration. Since Elsa Triolet’s death in 1970, this museum of a house has not changed. The decoration, the furniture, the photography… all is authentic. The Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon today serves both as a place of artistic memory and as a place that encourages artistic creation, putting on numerous exhibitions and shows.